Lumaktaw sa pangunahing content

Pope names 13 new cardinals

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis created 13 new cardinals on Saturday (Sunday in Manila), including the first African American — putting his personal stamp on the body that will one day choose his successor.

Under the soaring dome of St Peter’s Basilica, the new “princes of the Church” knelt one by one at the feet of the 83-year-old pontiff, who placed the quadrangular scarlet cap, or biretta, on their heads.

The diverse group — whose members hail from Italy, Malta, the Philippines, Chile, Brunei, Mexico and the United States — reflect not only the changing face of the church of 1.3 billion faithful but also the Jesuit pope’s belief in priests focused on the world’s poor.

Archbishop Jose Fuerte Advincula

The 72-year-old Archbishop of Washington, Wilton Gregory, said he was a “symbolic individual” for being made the first African American cardinal.

Since Francis’ election in 2013, the Argentine pope — the first from the Americas — has created 95 new cardinals in ceremonies known as consistories.

Those named by Francis now make up the majority of those cardinals under the age of 80 who will elect his successor.

That increases the chances that the pope’s efforts to make the Roman Catholic Church more inclusive, transparent, and more focused on defending the most vulnerable members of society, may continue after his death.

During the ceremony, Francis warned the new cardinals not to be seduced by their new “eminence” and stray from being “close to the people.”

“The scarlet of a cardinal’s robes, which is the color of blood, can, for a worldly spirit, become the color of a secular ‘eminence’,” said Francis. “When you feel that, you will be off the road.”

Nod to ‘peripheries’
Typically, all the world’s cardinals travel to Rome to welcome the newly promoted cardinals during the consistory.

This year, however, many did not attend, and coronavirus restrictions prevented travel for two new cardinals — Archbishop Jose Fuerte Advincula of the Philippines and Cornelius Sim, the apostolic vicar of the Muslim-majority nation of Brunei.

Only about 40 current cardinals, all in masks, were in attendance, sitting spaced apart before a limited audience of guests.

Due to the coronavirus, the tradition of exchanging “a kiss of peace” with the pope and all the other cardinals was suspended.

Nine cardinals in the latest group are under the age of 80 and thus eligible to join a conclave to elect the next pope upon the death or resignation of Francis.

Francis’ choices reflect not only a desire to promote non-Europeans within the church, but the pontiff’s personal fight against social inequality and poverty.

The Philippines’ Advincula said he believed the pope chose him to acknowledge Catholics living in far-flung areas from Rome.

“I always thought that the Church has to be closer to the people, especially those that are in the peripheries,” Advincula told Vatican News last month after being named.

Francis also named the archbishop of Washington D.C., Wilton Gregory, the first African American to become cardinal.

Defense of poor
The group of cardinals also includes Mexico’s Bishop Emeritus Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel, who has worked among the indigenous population of the poor region of Chiapas, and Archbishop Antoine Kambanda of Rwanda, who lost most of his family in the 1994 genocide.

Francis also named the archbishop of Santiago, Celestino Aos Braco, in a nod to the challenges ahead in restoring confidence in the Church in Chile in the aftermath of a widespread sex abuse scandal and coverup.

The group of six new Italian cardinals includes Augusto Paolo Lojudice, the current archbishop of Siena, known for his defense of Roma people, and the Franciscan priest Mauro Gambetti, guardian of the Holy Convent of Assisi, the city of Saint Francis.


Source: ManilaTimes

Mga Komento

Mga sikat na post sa blog na ito

Leonen is backlog topnotcher

Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Mario Victor Leonen has racked up the top spots in his division and the court en banc in terms of pending cases. Marvic Leonen Documents from the court show that aside from 82 unresolved en banc cases, Leonen also has 899 pending cases in the Third Division as of March 31, 2020. The division’s Statistics on Judicial Pending Cases was signed by Division Clerk of Court Misael Domingo Battung erd. Leonen has 199 cases classified as “aging” and 700 “non-aging” cases in the Third Division which he heads. Non-aging cases are cases which are waiting for other pleadings to be submitted. Other members of the Third Division at that time when the statistics were made were Justices Alexander Gesmundo, Rosmari Carandang, Rodil Zalameda and Samuel Gaerlan. Leonen has been with the Supreme Court for eight years, having been appointed by President Benigno Aquino 3rd on Nov. 21, 2012. He turns 58 years old on December 29. He is the division’s m...

NHL exec Colin Campbell explains league’s schedule goals in Canada

NHL senior executive vice president Colin Campbell says the league would like to try to preserve as many full-capacity home games as possible for Canadian fans, but acknowledges other factors are at play in redoing the schedule during the current COVID-19 surge. “You’d like to give the fans the opportunity to go to as many games as they can. They’ve already been shortchanged in the last year and a half … shortchanged completely watching hockey here in Canada,” Campbell said in an interview on the Real Kyper and Bourne show on Sportsnet 590 The Fan on Friday. “It’s a rite of passage to watch the world juniors this time of year for all young kids. I remember growing up watching it. Now, it’s cancelled. We’re trying to save as much as we can and delay it.” The NHL postponed nine more games on Friday because of arena capacity issues in Canada — with teams being allowed anywhere from zero fans (Montreal Canadiens) to 50 per cent capacity (Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Vancouver Can...

SMC, Animal Kingdom rescue abandoned animals in Taliptip, Bulakan

Domestic animals that were abandoned in Barangay Taliptip in Bukakan, Bulacan were rescued by San Miguel Corporation (SMC) and Animal Kingdom AFTER providing new homes for former residents of Barangay Taliptip in Bulakan, Bulacan — future site of its P740-billion Manila International Airport project — San Miguel Corporation (SMC) is now helping rescue and relocate domestic animals that were abandoned in the area. SMC and animal welfare organization Animal Kingdom Foundation (AKF) have been working together to rescue some 70 abandoned or stray animals, mostly dogs, left at the site. Animal Kingdom is a non-profit, non-government organization dedicated to improving the welfare and living conditions of animals and eliminating the cruel trade of dog meat for human consumption in the country. Some 50 animals, consisting of dogs and cats, have been rescued. At least 20 more are set to be rescued from different sitios in the coming days. The rescued animals are brought to Animal Kingdo...